1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imaging diagnosis supporting system and an imaging diagnosis supporting method that can determine whether or not to transmit medical information to a user, who requires medical information, and appropriately select corresponding contents when the medical information is transmitted, without deteriorating communication efficiency of a network, operation efficiency of each apparatus, and working efficiency during interpretation.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a medical activity is finely divided. For example, image diagnosis is divided into works of acquisition of diagnostic images of a patient, reading of the acquired diagnostic images and generation of a report, and explanation of the diagnosis result or treatment course based on the report. Each of the works is done by an expert (medical doctor or medical engineer), and a medical activity, such as diagnosis for a patient, is achieved by all of the works. Each of the experts executes his/her work on the basis of information generated by the other experts in the preceding works and by properly referring to diagnostic information in the past.
Each of the works is performed by a doctor's terminal, a medical imaging diagnosis apparatus, such as an X-ray CT (Computed Tomography) apparatus or an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) apparatus, which acquires diagnostic images, a PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System) server (medical image storing apparatus), which stores the diagnostic images, an image viewing apparatus, which reads the diagnostic images, and an imaging diagnosis report creation supporting apparatus through a network. For example, an attending physician acquires information from the hospital information system (HIS) using his/her terminal, inputs required items while referring to an interpretation report, and generates an order (examination request) using the radiology information system (RIS). An engineer who operates a medical image diagnostic apparatus receives the generated order through the network, determines a scan range and a scan condition on the basis of the contents of the order, and collects required images. The acquired images are stored in the medical image storing apparatus through the network automatically or according to a predetermined operation. The image viewing apparatus or the imaging diagnostic report creation supporting apparatus acquires the images or past reports stored in the medical image storing apparatus, for example, for the purpose of the progress observation of the interpretation physician. In the imaging diagnostic report creation supporting apparatus, selection of an image (key image) as the ground of diagnosis and creation of a report are performed. The created report and the selected key image are transmitted to the medical image storing apparatus through the network and stored therein.
In recent years, as regards such an imaging diagnosis, in which the works are divided, Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-319356 has suggested a system that allows past examination information to be efficiently used. In this system, an object having, as the contents, a past scan condition, key image information, or past examination information, which was referred to during scan, is shared as information. Then, a user can see the key image or the scan condition, which was used in the past diagnosis, by referring to a common object with a predetermined apparatus at a predetermined timing. Accordingly, the user can reproduce the past examination with high precision and photograph an image suitable for comparative interpretation. In addition, as regards the examination while referring to the past, the reference history is also stored in the common object, and thus during interpretation, a comparative subject to be referred to can be automatically specified and displayed from the information, and a preparatory activity of the interpretation physician can be significantly reduced.
However, when the system, which uses a common object is introduced, for example, a display device (including a display client), which does not correspond to the common object handles the common object, similarly to usual image information. For this reason, for example, the following problems may occur.
That is, in the server apparatus, since the common object is handled, similarly to the usual image information, the common object itself, which is not needed in the client apparatus (for example, a viewer), may be transmitted. In this case, unnecessary data may be transmitted and acquired on the network, which results in deterioration of the communication efficiency of the network and the operation efficiency of each apparatus.
Furthermore, when the common object, which is not needed in the client apparatus, is displayed, a display area of an image (for example, a key image) required for interpretation becomes small. For this reason, an unnecessary work, such as deletion of some of the common object or the entire common object, may be performed, which results in deterioration of the working efficiency during interpretation.
In addition, when various kinds of information, such as a medical image report and image data, other than the common object, are transmitted/received between the server apparatus and the client apparatus through the network, the communication efficiency of the network, the operation efficiency of each apparatus, and the working efficiency during interpretation may be deteriorated.